Farmington police still awaiting report on man found dead after fire

Kyle Stucker @KyleStucker

Wednesday

Mar 28, 2018 at 5:05 PMMar 28, 2018 at 5:06 PM

FARMINGTON — Farmington police said Wednesday they were unable to release additional information about the man found dead after a Feb. 21 mobile home fire because they’re still waiting for the official medical examiner’s report.

Arthur “Chip” Cardinal Jr., 44, and his girlfriend’s dog were found dead in a 677 Route 11 mobile home following a three-alarm fire early Feb. 21. Since then, various officials have declined to disclose how or when they died because of the pending report. The State Police Major Crimes Unit has been involved in the investigation, although Chief Jay Drury said earlier this month that he could state that homicide has been ruled out.

The state medical examiner conducted Cardinal’s autopsy on Feb. 22, the day after the fire. Drury had originally projected the medical examiner’s report would be complete within four to six weeks, but he said Wednesday he’s not sure if that standard timeline is still accurate because he’s still waiting on toxicology results for an unrelated case that started one month before the Cardinal fire.

“We’re done our thorough investigation,” Drury said of the Cardinal investigation on Wednesday. “We’re just waiting on some final pieces to fall into place.”

According to Drury, no Farmington investigations have been slowed or negatively affected by delays involving information from the medical examiner’s office.

“(The medical examiner’s office) takes it by a case-by-case basis and they try to do things in as timely a manner as they possibly can,” said Drury. “I can sympathize with them. It’s very difficult when you’re short staffed.”

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